A
LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN ($25) is a warm and truly funny movie about the
All American Girls Professional Baseball League, which was created during
the height of the Second World War. Director Penny Marshall does a great
job of bringing to life this bygone era- a time when most major league
players had traded in their team colors for a uniform that was just a bit
more patriotic. Of course, just as Rosie The Riveter stepped in to keep
the factories running on the home front, A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
weaves its story around how the women of All American Girls Professional
Baseball League, who helped keep Americaís national pastime alive during
the war years.

The
story of A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN centers on the sibling rivalry
between Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis) and Kit Keller (Lori Petty), a pair of
the sisters, who end up catching and pitching for one of the newly formed
womenís baseball teams. Serving as the teamís coach/manager is Jimmy
Dugan (Tom Hanks); a former big leaguer, who rarely crawls out of the
bottle long enough to care about the women under his supposed leadership.
Of course, with Jimmy sidelined most of the time; it falls to Dottie (the
leagueís best player) to lead the team to their first few victories. As
their winning ways continue, Jimmy eventually sobers up and begins to see
the women in his charge as real baseball players. A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
also features a scene stealing performance from Jon Lovitz, as well as
some great support from the likes of Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Garry
Marshall, Megan Cavanagh, David Strathairn and Tracy Reiner.

Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment has made of A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
available on DVD in a 2.35:1 wide screen presentation that features the
anamorphic enhancement for 16:9 displays (a full screen presentation is
also included, for anyone that cares). This is a rally nice looking
transfer that brings out the beauty in the filmís nostalgic and ever so
slightly gauzy cinematography. Sharpness and image detail are both very
good, although not up to the hyper-realistic levels of some newer movies.
Colors appear warm and appealing, while flesh tones come across in a
fairly natural manner. Saturation is good, although none of the hues
become overly intense. Blacks are accurate, whites are solid and contrast
is smooth. Shadow detail is just fine, with no murkiness being evident.
The film element used for the transfer displays some minor blemishes, as
well as an occasionally noticeable grain structure, but neither are
particularly bothersome. Digital compression artifacts are never a cause
for concern.

A
LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN is offered with a Dolby Digital 3.1 channel
soundtrack. The mix is something of an odd bird for a film from 1992,
especially since the three channels of the forward soundstage is
reasonably well utilized, as is the subwoofer channel, while the surrounds
remain silent. While much of A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN is dialogue
driven, I think the baseball game sequences could have benefited from
ambient sounds and active surround effects. Still, the fidelity of the
track is quite good, which allows one to appreciate Hans Zimmerís
lively, period flavored score. The bass channel is reasonably solid, which
helps both the music and the baseball game sequences. Dialogue is always
intelligible, while the voices themselves maintain a fairly natural
sounding character. A French Dolby Surround track is also provided, as are
English subtitles.

Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as the supplemental materials, which are spread
across both disc of the set. Director Penny Marshall, plus actresses Lori
Petty, Megan Cavanagh and Tracy Reiner are on hand to provide a running
audio commentary. This is a pretty good commentary track that provides a
goodly amount production of detail, as well as some enjoyable stories from
the set.

On
disc two, one will find Nine Memorable Innings, a multi-part
program that provides a detailed look at the production of A LEAGUE OF
THEIR OWN, through a series of interviews with the cast and crew. A
play all feature gives this very enjoyable program a running time of more
than fifty minutes. There are also fifteen deleted/extended scenes
provided on disc two, which include optional introductions from the
director. One will find a lot of interesting material amongst more than a
half hours worth deleted sequences, some of which provide a completely
different nuance to the story. Up next, is the Madonnaís video This
Used To Be My Playground. Filmographies, plus a theatrical trailer
and bonus trailers close out the supplements.

A
LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN is a sweet, nostalgic comedy that Iíve always
found to be quite appealing. Columbia has done a good job with the filmís
presentation on this Special Edition DVD, as well as including some
enjoyable supplements. If you are a fan, the DVD is a worthwhile upgrade.
If youíve never owned a copy of A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, then this
is the DVD to have.